New York State’s plan to implement a plan known as managed care for nonprofit service providers for people with special needs runs the risk of repeating a similar model’s failure in Wisconsin, a Long Island nonprofit group home leader warns.
Managed care is a form of health insurance that contracts with certain health care providers and facilities in order to provide care for patients at a reduced cost.
Charles Evdos is the executive director of RISE Life, a Riverhead-based nonprofit organization that seeks to provide support, housing, and services that enrich the lives of the physically and mentally challenged and their families. He said that the use of managed care, in response to state funding cuts, is expected to have detrimental effects on mental health services and the people that the services provide for.
“Managed care is going to be a touchy situation,” says Evdos. “It was tried in Wisconsin and it was a failure. So, I don’t understand why New York can’t learn from that experience.”
Reforms to the New York State Fiscal Year 2021 Enacted Budget include new eligibility requirements that enhance the oversight of managed care. These reforms are also addressed by statewide enrollment in managed long-term care, according to ny.gov.
RISE Life Services was originally established as Aid to the Developmentally Disabled in 1980. Evdos fears that the state’s funding cuts and push for managed care will hinder the agency by forcing it to trim its workforce.
“These are essential workers,” Evdos says. “How do you really punish essential workers for doing a great job, you know? It’s just ridiculous. These workers should be paid a lot more. When you look at a nonprofit and other agencies, such as our agency, we do things more cost effectively and better than the state does.”
With RISE Life Services having 30 residences across Long Island, the company has prepared to compensate for losses brought by the funding cuts through fundraising, food pantries, and an endowment. The nonprofit has also opened up a Day Program Without Walls, which allows the enhancement of services at the agency by providing day care for individuals that the company serves.
Evdos made note that advocating in support of these services can play a big role in shedding light on the problems that will arise from the funding cuts.
“Lives are gonna be lost,” said Evdos, “Making these cuts in this field, on individuals that really require extensive care, is a big mistake.”
